I just let go of my paddle and hold everything down with my hands in rapids . Seriously, I'm a strap in kind of guy. Bill Mason advocated tethers and later changed his mind about them preferring to tie or strap everything in. More buoyant gear that is in the boat, means there is less nice heavy water in it. The main thing, is that if you are going to tie or strap in your gear, it is less effective, and arguably more dangerous if you strap or tie across the gunnels or thwarts, as stuff will want to float up when the boat is upright and full of water. Letting stuff float completely free, assumes that it is just a short rapid with a big slow pool at the bottom for recovery. But three or four packs, a couple of swimmers and a boat, is a lot to keep track of for your rescue boats.

After a nasty roll on one river and some close calls, I have gotten to tying things into the boat. I do use some Eureka drybag style packs that float really well, and barrels, so the majority of stuff is in them and they are loose, but usually wedged into place. Any of the small pricey things like my stove, rifle, fishing poles, are tied to the seats, thwarts, or packs.

Yes untying can be a pain with a lot of portages but losing some vital eqpt when back in the bush is not much fun either. We use a sort of thwart bag setup with our waist packs and a pelican case for all of the cameras, GPS, car keys and such.

When we did roll the boat, the packs acted as some very efficient flotation and actually kept the hull up on top of the water. Yeaaay for Eureka. Seal Line are good that way too.

Tripping conditions really do dictate the correct method here. So, yes, there is a right answer but it depends on what kind of water you are paddling. Choosing the wrong method could be life threatening.

The two classic examples are: a drop and pool river, a dump occurs, gear is not secured, floats freely and drifts to shore around the next bend. Boats are easy to right, gear is easily collected. Paddlers push away from canoe but usually only have a short swim.

A BIG, northern river, very fast current, a dump occurs, gear is not secured floats freely and is never recovered having found it's way hundreds of kilometres downstream, paddlers die of starvation or exposure. A loaded canoe may be difficult to 'right', but in a capsize, will probably find it's way to a shoreline quickly, whereas free floating packs and barrels will just travel along. Water conditions and safety dictate whether paddlers can / should stay close to canoe and follow or lead it to shore. Paddlers could have a long swim.

In general,secure on big, fast flowing rivers or big lakes, don't secure on smaller rivers with, drop and pool rapids or small, lake travel. However, I tend to secure on river trips, regardless and will really only leave some gear loose on flatwater trips. Small items are always secured.

While I agree with Dann about the possibility in a pool/drop river that the gear can be easily recovered if it floats free, there is another issue that is sometimes overlooked. A canoe without gear that is full of water can become a hazard to swimmers AND to itself. If it makes it to the next rapid, or to a rock or sweeper it can do a great deal of damage to itself. WIth gear tied in, it will be more difficult to right, however, it will also be floating higher and be easier to rescue. And while I agree that on remote northern rivers, tying in is a must, loss of critical gear on a local river that strands one for several days, can also become life threatening. Bill Mason used to advocate tying in with short lines, and he later recanted and advocated for tying gear in tightly, as it provides floatation.

Canoe over canoe rescues don't make much sense to me in moving water so I'd throw out that arguement.

I tie it in tight. I'd rather be chasing one big easy to find thing than multiple smaller items, plus a boat that's more likely to broach - including in pool and drop rivers. There can be tricky, hard to reach eddies in the 'drop' and current in the 'pool' that make gear retrieval difficult. I have a quick release strap in system that keeps barrels and bags secure yet is easy to access for portaging

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